Judicial Activism in Personal Laws

Abstract

Personal Laws1 are set of laws which govern and regulate relations arising out of certain factors connecting two persons or more than two persons. Those factors are: Marriage, Blood, and Affinity2. Moreover, personal law governs and regulates subjects or areas of personal sphere such as: Marriage, Divorce, Maintenance, Succession, Minority & Guardianship etc. Barring few3, most of the personal laws in India are based on scriptural laws which are divided and based on religions.

They provide norms of governing personal relations in the family set up. With the passage of time, these norms were given statutory recognition with several enactments in the area of Marriage, Divorce, Maintenance, Inheritance & Succession, Guardianship and Custody matters. Importance of personal laws can be seen by its very nature, composition and personas and relations to which it is being applied. Personal laws occupy a unique position in today’s age and it plays a vital role in keeping the society in the civil bounds.